If child begins stuttering after age 31/2, seek treatment

Published: Thursday, March 06, 2008

KRISTEN HACKNEY-REDMAN

If your child stutters, he or she is in good company. According to the Stuttering Foundation of America, famous people who have stuttered include Tiger Woods, Marilyn Monroe, John Stossel, James Earl Jones and Winston Churchill.

Judith Keller, president of the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association, said most children will stutter at some point, but 80 percent of children who begin to stutter will recover.

Identifying the child who will stutter beyond childhood can be complicated but crucial for parents.

"The earlier we get to identify and work with these children, the better the outcome," said Keller, who is associate professor of speech-language and hearing sciences at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.

Risk factors for stuttering into adulthood include late onset of stuttering, having family members who stutter and being male, according to Keller.

According to the foundation, if a child begins stuttering after age 31/2, he or she is less likely to outgrow stuttering. Children with family members who stutter are more likely to stutter, and Keller said that boys are four times as likely to stutter as girls.

According to Keller, most children will repeat whole words at some point, and this is normal, but if a parent is worried, he or she should contact a speech-language pathologist.

According to Keller, repeating parts of words, prolonging parts of his or her words or pausing at unusual moments during speech are signs that a child may continue to stutter beyond childhood.

Jody Bolin, a Texas history and girls' athletics teacher at Evans Middle School, stuttered as a child. Although most people told him that they did not notice when he stuttered, Bolin said he was aware of it.

He dreaded reading aloud in class because he worried that he would stutter.

"The more you think about it, the more you stutter," Bolin said. "I remember I hated to read in class because I knew I would stutter."

Fortunately, Bolin escaped teasing and bullying from his peers, but many children who stutter do experience such treatment.

Keller said that 59 percent of children who stutter report being teased or bullied at least once a week. Seventy-five percent of adults who stutter reported that being teased or bullied during childhood affected their education.

Bolin offers this advice to parents of children who stutter: "If you can, get help for them."

He also said parents should be patient. If your child is struggling to finish a sentence, do not try to finish his or her thoughts.

"Let them work through it," Bolin said.

Texas Tech student Matt Wisnewski was teased as a child because he stuttered. Although forming relationships with his peers has been difficult, friendship has been important for Wisnewski.

"The teasing stopped when I made a friend that did not treat me any differently," Wisnewski said. "Having a support system is so vital."

Wisnewski said parents should treat their children who stutter as normal, because they are normal.

"It just takes them a little longer to get out what they want to say," he said.

Treatment options for children who stutter are available. Keller said that if parents are concerned about their child's stuttering, they should contact a speech-language pathologist.

"A good speech and language evaluation is very important," Keller said. "Certainly, therapy is a consideration."

"While stuttering greatly shaped who I am today, everyone has a struggle, whether it is family, financial or otherwise," said Wisnewski. "So, in the grand scheme of things, I am no different than anyone."